


The Uncanny Valley

by nyaheato



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Ben 10: Omniverse, Drabble, Episode: s01e07 So Long and Thanks for All the Smoothies, Gen, idk what to put here, there's nothing else in that tag is there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23492353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyaheato/pseuds/nyaheato
Summary: This kind of thing was not a rare occurrence for Ben. The grape smoothie was easy to forget, sometimes. All Ben had to do was pick literally any other flavor. But he noticed things.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 73





	The Uncanny Valley

**Author's Note:**

> greetings from quarantine to whomever may be reading this! right now, my classes are entirely online and my teachers are posting daily questions for us to answer, which is kinda how theyre taking attendance. this drabble was inspired by one such question, which came from my history teacher. i hope this makes sense and i hope you enjoy!! ;w;

_What would a world populated by clones of you be like?_

Ben squinted at the words on the laptop screen in front of him. Normally, fulfilling an essay prompt for English class would not have been at the top of his list of things to do for the day, but Ben’s grade was teetering on the precipice of a 90 percent, and his parents would totally ground him if he let it slip to a B plus. Because school was just as important as saving the world, somehow. Or whatever.

Groaning, Ben flopped backwards, lying flat on his back while his laptop continued whirring on his stomach as he stared up at the ceiling. Technically, wasn’t the entire _galaxy_ filled with clones of him, kind of? Or was it the other way around? Disregarding that, would a true, complete clone of him have an Omnitrix to match, too? He supposed that no, they wouldn’t, since he wasn’t born with the thing fused to his wrist. But then, he was reminded of another version of himself, one who had never known being a hero, had never known _literally_ splitting yourself into millions of pieces in order to stay alive. Literally. 

No, that wasn’t him.

Ben closed his eyes, letting his mind wander in search of answers to the essay prompt. His thoughts drifted to the other day when, breaking for smoothies with Rook after a chaotic morning of patrol, the barista had freaked out and demanded on picking up the Mr. Smoothy’s tab for The Great Ben Ten And His Sidekick, much to Rook’s indignance and Ben’s initial amusement. The kid was obviously new, since Ben knew all the employees there and none of them were ever overtly excited to serve him. Plus, he had never seen the kid before in his life. 

A year ago, Ben would’ve taken it for granted, or simply been grateful for the reprieve and moved on. He wasn’t the type to question it when the Universe took pity on him. Except that was precisely the problem. Was it really realistic for someone to fawn over him so fervently like that? And free smoothies on the one day morning patrol wasn’t as eye-wateringly boring as watching paint dry? The questions buzzed around inside his head like the hum of a lamp that you don’t notice, until you do, and then you can never not hear it again. No matter how many times you point it out to people, their ears can’t seem to pick it up, and then they look at you funny.

“Hey, don’t you think that was a little weird?” Ben had asked with an awkward chuckle, motioning with his head toward the order window as the partners took a seat at their usual outdoor table. 

Rook arched a brow. “Do you mean the fact that we have been awarded free food as a result of your celebrity status?” He replied drily.

“Okay, well, when you put it that way…” Ben conceded, but his brow furrowed nonetheless. “I just mean, don’t you think it was a bit much? Like, we come here all the time. Isn’t this a little convenient after all the crap we had to deal with this morning? ...I don’t know.” It had sounded less dumb in his head.

A mildly incredulous expression came over Rook’s face. “Ben, you have many _adoring_ fans, as you often like to remind me. I would think that you would be accustomed to this manner of treatment by now, nearly two years after your true identity was revealed on Earth.” Rook’s eyes narrowed and he leaned over the table as if to study Ben’s face for signs of malady. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Dude! I am totally fine.” Ben declared, raising his hands, palms facing outwards as if to repel Rook’s stare. “You’re right, I’m overthinking it. Just forget it.” 

“...Well, if you are sure.” Rook withdrew, returning his body to the appropriate side of their table, and that had been the end of it.

This kind of thing was not a rare occurrence for Ben. The grape smoothie was easy to forget, sometimes. All Ben had to do was pick literally any other flavor. But he noticed things, how the Universe seemed to tip things in his favor. 

Like how Kevin and Gwen seemed to come home to visit more often ever since that day, both of them eerily more tolerant of Ben’s obnoxious jokes and strangely less eager to go when it was time to leave. Like the way Rook seemed to berate him less and banter with him more. And sometimes, Ben could swear that when his mom wished him good luck or said _I love you_ on his way out the door, he would turn and meet her eyes and it would be his own green irises staring back at him.

Everywhere Ben looked he saw pieces of himself, woven into the very fabric of reality. If he squinted just right, space dust and stars and the miles in between them came into focus where there should have been terrestrial matter, and all of it looked jarringly familiar. He never looked close enough to gauge just how deep it went, how deep _he_ went, but wriggling in the back of his subconscious was the fear and the knowledge that he already knew. Committed to his memory were the screams of every being in the universe, the sight of every light being snuffed out one by one as they all died. Gone, erased, rewound. There was no coming back from that.

Ben knew what it was like to stand totally alone, the sole survivor of the annihilation of everything, surrounded on all sides only by the oppressive void. Everyone and everything in this universe reeked of himself, which became obvious as he started seeing through the cracks. It felt like he might as well still be there, at the edge of everything, the abyss, the desolate void. 

Sitting up, Ben blinked and read the essay prompt again.

_What would a world populated by clones of you be like?_

_‘Lonely,’_ he typed. It was a start.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to note that it is canon as of UAF (cant remember which exactly) that ben's worst grade is in chemistry, and it's a B+. which means his english grade is better than that. also, he passed plumber school or whatever with a 95!!!! ben's good at school you guys!! i always forget.


End file.
